Friday, January 29, 2016

In 2015 I discovered a whole hoard of new beauty bits, and skincare turned
out to be the department I found the most incredible products in. Here are my
top skincare items for 2015!

La Roche Posay Effaclar Toner

I splash mine onto a cotton pad and swipe it all over my face after
washing it, and it tightens my pores and creates an almost velvety barrier
against germs and bacteria. This has been one of the best products I’ve ever
used, and as part of the 3-step anti blemish system, it’s calmed my skin down and
I hardly ever suffer with spots anymore.

Original Source Vanilla and
Raspberry Shower Gel

Possibly the most luxurious and beautiful smelling shower gel the world
has ever known! Considering you can pick this up from Boots, Savers, Bargain
Buys and Wilko for £1 when it’s on a special offer, it’s also the cheapest item
in my list. It smells so good that you feel like you could eat it, and is also
a vegan product! Thumbs up all round for my shower time staple.

La Roche Posay Effaclar Duo

Again, as part of my 3-step anti blemish system by La Roche Posay, this
has stopped spots in its tracks and made my skin so much less of a hassle. This
is the third step in the routine; after swiping my face with the toner, I use this
almost like a moisturiser. It melts into the skin and calms redness
immediately, and works to minimise spots. I adore this little tube of goodness.

The Body Shop Tea Tree Body Wash

As a girl who used to suffer from the dreaded ‘bacne’, and had spots on my
shoulders and a few annoying red ones on my chest (thanks, puberty), this body
wash has literally saved my skin. I think that last year I started to ‘grow out’
of my back acne, but this wash definitely helped to get rid of them. Now I only
have a few red marks, and even though I do get the odd spot, this tea tree
formula works wonders for me, and I’d definitely recommend it! It’s only £6
too!

The Body Shop Seaweed Ionic Clay
Mask

I’ve always been a sucker for a face mask, and this baby was actually part
of the Seaweed set I got from my mum for Christmas in 2014! It sat around my
bathroom for a good few months until I actually used it and fell in love. It’s
so thick, and you can feel it actively cleansing deep down in your skin. You
can even see the little dark patches where it’s absorbing the oil from your
skin as the mask dries. Very very cool, and extremely effective.

Garnier Micellar Water

A beauty blogger favourite, need I say more? I’ll summarise it in a
sentence: This Micellar water doesn’t sting your eyes, make your face feel
tight or oily, and takes off every little morsel of makeup. And it’s cheap. And
it’s amazing!

What were our skincare
favourites of 2015? Let me know in the comments!

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

This isn’t one of those “I’m going to lose 5kgs this year!” type of
things, it’s more to do with feeling like I’m happier and healthier inside and
out. I never weigh myself, it’s something I refuse to do, because numbers and
units of measure don’t really mean anything at all as long as you’re healthy
and feeling good in your own skin. I’ve been mostly vegetarian since January,
doing about 6 days per week meat free. This has definitely made me feel better,
not only because the food I’m eating is low in fat, but it’s making me get a
whole lot more creative in the kitchen with different recipe and meal ideas!
I’m not going to exercise much, that’s not going to change! But, the input,
food wise, has already started helping me feel happier!

Move to London

This year is going to be a massive turning point in my life! Chris and I
are moving in together this year, as we’re sick and tired of being long
distance. It costs too much, it takes up so much time, we don’t get to see each
other hardly as much as we’d like to, and we want our own space to be a proper
couple. We’ve been together for nearly a year now, and best friends for about 8
years too, so we’re confident that this is a much needed step for us. I’m
transferring my university course to a London university, a city I’ve wanted to
live in since I can remember, and we’re going to find a flat share together. I
couldn’t be more excited!

Complete my first year of
university

The first semester was a little bit of a doss for me, and even though I
tried to keep focussed, I didn’t do as well as I was hoping I would. Having
said that, I didn’t put the effort in I know I could have. With this in mind,
I’ve completed my first semester with a low 2:1, so not terrible! But, I really
want to achieve better, and I know it’s something I can do! My course finishes
in May, so I’ve just got to knuckle down until then, and I should have more
impressive grades to show for it!

See my mum and sister in Australia

Having family on the other side of the globe is something that’s really
hard. It costs a whole load of money, time and emotional effort to get to see
them. My sister came back for Christmas in 2014, but didn’t last year. I was
lucky enough to see my mum in August for a couple of weeks too, but no amount
of time with them will ever be enough. I’m hoping to fly back over to Australia
this year to visit them, and to get some kisses and cuddles from my dog, who I
haven’t seen for two years!

More tattoos!

I’m currently sitting at four tattoos, but I’m always itching for more.
I’ve got a huge list of ideas that I want; lyrics on my arm, a rose on my
thigh, a teapot, a grim reaper, and of course, a ‘Miley, what’s good?’ tattoo.
They don’t come cheap, but I’ve got a savings tin in my room which I’m putting
a few pounds a week into. Hopefully by summer I’ll have enough for a new one!

My first anniversary with Chris

March 2016 will be our first anniversary, and with being a long distance
couple, it’s almost impossible to believe it’s nearly been a year already! I
suppose because we haven’t seen each other as much as a normal couple would, it’s
made the time zoom by. We’ve created some incredible memories; days in Camden,
festivals over summer, concerts, picnics in Greenwich. I’m so proud to have
come this far and to have had him, my best friend in the whole world, by my
side. We’re planning to go up the Shard for cocktails on our anniversary, so I’m
sure there’ll be a lovely blogpost to go with that. Keep your eyes peeled!

Monday, January 25, 2016

Just thought I’d update my blog readers with some of my latest YouTube
videos! YouTube is something I do when I’ve got a lot of spare time, it’s
really hard to keep on top of with uni, work, travelling around etc etc etc! I
really do enjoy making these videos, and my biggest beauty inspiration usually
comes from watching my favourite beauty vloggers. So, in case you haven’t
checked out my videos before, here are my latest three! There’s my highlight
and contour routine for pale skin, what’s in my winter makeup bag and what’s
really in my bag! I hope you enjoy!

Sunday, January 24, 2016

Last week I was contacted by Kelly from Crazy Color, an incredibly popular
and diverse hair colour brand and asked if I’d be willing to feature one of
their dyes on my blog in the run up to Valentines Day! I’m super duper excited
because this is the first big brand that’s ever got in touch with me, and as a
lover of Crazy Colour for over a year now, it’s really exciting to have been
chosen to work with them!

The colour I was sent is Candyfloss, a pastel, baby pink. It’s incredibly
beautiful, and it’s actually the exact shade I dyed my hair pastel pink with
last summer, so I already know how much I love it. I’ve absolutely always
lusted after pastel hair; so far I’ve tried baby pink and lilac, but there’s
many more I’d be dye-ing (ha, punny!) to try out.

For those of you new to pastel hair, the key thing is to start out with
white bleached hair. This will ensure the colour of the dye transfers
accurately to your hair. If you apply it to golden blonde or dirty blonde hair,
the colour will be affected and won’t come out the way you pictured.
Unfortunately (and I know it’s expensive!) it’s much better to play the long
game, and have pale blonde healthy-ish hair, rather than trying to wing it. I
applied my Candyfloss directly onto dry hair. I know it says to apply it to wet
hair but I like the fact that the colour comes off more vibrant when you apply
it to dry hair. If you’d like a softer shade, then follow the directions on the
box. It’s really tricky dying your own hair, but you do get used to it after a while!
I take 2-3 cm sections and try to really saturate it in dye, ensuring all the
roots and ends are covered completely. Patchy isn’t the best look! I leave mine
on for around half an hour, then rinse until the water runs clear and viola…the
hair of a mermaid princess!

One of Crazy Color’s bottles isn’t quite enough to cover all of my
medium/long hair, so luckily I had half a bottle lying around to save the day.
I’d recommend grabbing a couple of bottles, just in case the application first
time around isn’t as perfect as you’d like it to be, and just to be on the safe
side so you don’t run out of dye halfway through! On the plus side, Crazy Color
is really really affordable, so even a penniless student like me can afford it!
I’m going to be keeping the pastel pink for a little while now, since I adore
it so much and get so many compliments on it. That, and I can be a mermaid
princess on Valentines!

What colour hair would
you like to try? Let me know in the comments!

Lots of love,

Jasmine x

* The products mentioned
in this blog post have been sent to me by the brand/its representatives for
review/promotion. The views stated in the post are still accurate and represent
my true opinions.